Eir buys Setanta Sports Ireland

Irish telecoms company Eir has acquired Setanta Sports Ireland in a deal that marks its first move into TV content rights.

Through the deal Eir has taken BT Sport’s Irish rights allowing it to broadcast Premier League and Champions league football.

Setanta customers in the Republic of Ireland are able to receive six channels – Setanta Ireland, Setanta Sports 1, BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, BT Sport Europe and BT Sport ESPN.

Across these, Setanta broadcasts sports including Barclays Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League football, top flight European football from Germany, Italy and France, League of Ireland, as well as European Rugby Champions Cup, Aviva Premiership Rugby, UFC, Masters golf and Formula One racing.

Eir said the purchase will allow it to “significantly expand its TV offering” and marks a “very important first step” in television content ownership.

“We will now offer our customers the widest range and highest calibre of sports content in Ireland. Buying Setanta Sports Ireland is a game changer for eir and is our largest acquisition since we purchased Meteor in 2005,” said Richard Moat, CEO of Eir.

Jon Florsheim, managing director of Eir Consumer, added: “By acquiring Setanta Sports Ireland we have moved into the content space and we are hugely excited at the possibilities this presents. We are confident the Eir brand together with our great value bundles will now appeal to even more households.”

The deal was agreed for undisclosed terms and is pending approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission together, as well as from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.